Abstract: A system and method for three dimensional character animation provides a rapid download of the animated character since the persistent data of the animated character may be downloaded initially to begin the animation. One or more behavior files may then be downloaded as needed which reduces the initial download time of a character. The system may store the persistent data in a character cache. To reduce the size of the behavior files, the persistent data may include morphlinks, for each polygon on the character, that determine the contributions that the movement of each joint in the character make on each polygon of the character.